Anna Shapiro featured in the AJ's Sketchbook series

11th May 2020

Sketching for me is a mode of observing and learning, but it is also a way to feel present in the here and now. The digital landscape that dominates our working from home routine these days takes away a very significant part of our ability as design practitioners to continuously engage with the physical world. Now more than ever, we need to emphasis thinking through drawing and sketching as a way to explore ideas.

Drawing by hand allows me to discover new things in what is often overlooked; it helps me to think across scales and themes, while being the most immediate and effective means of non-verbal communication.

In the last 24 hours, I’ve been sketching the immediate world around me: my video conferencing, my workspace, my views, my breakfast. I would usually roam around London for at least 10 minutes a day with my Moleskine to record city scenes but now I am concentrated on drawing my apartment, where I hardly spent any time before Covid-19.